Rui Ferreira graduated in Biology in July 2006 at the University of Aveiro. During graduation, he did a training programme at Centre for Protein Engineering, University of Liège, through the Leonardo Da Vinci programme (European Commission) to study a novel extended spectrum β-lactamase (TEM-121) from Enterobacter aerogenes. In the same year he joined the Cancer Genetics research group at Ipatimup to investigate the role of Helicobacter pylori virulence factors in the development of gastric cancer using in vitro models and clinical specimens. During his PhD, he visit to the laboratory of Professor Dulciene Queiroz from UFMG (Belo Horizonte, Brazil) to develop technical skills to isolate H. pylori strains from gastric clinical specimens. At the end of 2012, he got his PhD from the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto in frame of the Doctoral Programme in Biomedicine. In 2013, I was awarded with an individual post-doctoral fellowship from FCT to investigate the role of H. pylori and the gastric microbiome in gastric cancer. Since then, he was responsible for the implementation of an animal model of gastric carcinogenesis at i3S. He has also been implementing state-of-the-art pipelines to analyse next-generation sequencing microbiome data. Currently, he holds an Assistant research position awarded in a highly competitive individual call promoted by FCT (Scientific Employment Stimulus – 2017). Importantly, my recent scientific production led to filling of a patent application on microbiome markers for gastric cancer and to the publication in a top journal in the area of Gastroenterology (Gut, IF: 17.943, Q1). As a result of his scientific activities, he has published 40 papers in international peer-reviewed journals, of which he is first author in 12 papers (h-index of 18). He is also author of 2 book chapters. Altogether, his research efforts produced solid data, based on which the Worldwide Cancer Research, FCT, and the Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme have funded the research of the Group in last years. Recently, he is leading an FCT funded project aiming to identify microbiome metabolites as biomarkers in gastrointestinal cancers.
Selected Publications
Gastric microbial community profiling reveals a dysbiotic cancer-associated microbiota. Gut67(2):226-236, 2018. [Journal: Article] [CI: 482] [IF: 17,9]
DOI: 10.1136/gutjnl-2017-314205 SCOPUS: 85043251326
Ferreira R.M., Figueiredo J., Pinto-Ribeiro I., Gullo I., Sgouras D.N., Carreto L., Castro P., Santos M.A., Carneiro F., Seruca R., Figueiredo C.
Activation of Laminin γ2 by Helicobacter pylori Promotes Invasion and Survival of Gastric Cancer Cells with E-Cadherin Defects. Journal of Infectious Diseases226(12):2226-2237, 2022. [Journal: Article] [CI: 5] [IF: 6,4]
DOI: 10.1093/infdis/jiac397 SCOPUS: 85144584272
Silva L.M., Correia V.G., Moreira A.S.P., Domingues M.R.M., Ferreira R.M., Figueiredo C., Azevedo N.F., Marcos-Pinto R., Carneiro F., Magalhães A., Reis C.A., Feizi T., Ferreira J.A., Coimbra M.A., Palma A.S.
Helicobacter pylori lipopolysaccharide structural domains and their recognition by immune proteins revealed with carbohydrate microarrays. Carbohydrate Polymers253:, 2021. [Journal: Article] [CI: 16] [IF: 10,7]
DOI: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2020.117350 SCOPUS: 85095844367
Ferreira R.M., Figueiredo C., Bonet C., Pardo M.L., Liso J.M.R., Alonso P., Sala N., Capella G., Sanz-Anquela J.M., González C.A.
Helicobacter pylori vacA intermediate region genotyping and progression of gastric preneoplastic lesions. American Journal of Gastroenterology107(1):145-146, 2012. [Journal: Letter] [CI: 13] [IF: 7,6]
DOI: 10.1038/ajg.2011.389 SCOPUS: 84855428342
González C.A., Figueiredo C., Lic C.B., Ferreira R.M., Pardo M.L., Ruiz Liso J.M., Alonso P., Sala N., Capella G., Sanz-Anquela J.M.
Helicobacter pylori cagA and vacA genotypes as predictors of progression of gastric preneoplastic lesions: A long-term follow-up in a high-risk area in Spain. American Journal of Gastroenterology106(5):867-874, 2011. [Journal: Article] [CI: 119] [IF: 7,3]
DOI: 10.1038/ajg.2011.1 SCOPUS: 79955601017
Ferreira R.M., Pinto-Ribeiro I., Wen X., Marcos-Pinto R., Dinis-Ribeiro M., Carneiro F., Figueiredo C.
Helicobacter pylori cagA promoter region sequences influence CagA expression and interleukin 8 secretion. Journal of Infectious Diseases213(4):669-673, 2016. [Journal: Article] [CI: 42] [IF: 6,3]
DOI: 10.1093/infdis/jiv467 SCOPUS: 84960172758
Costa A.M., Ferreira R.M., Pinto-Ribeiro I., Sougleri I.S., Oliveira M.J., Carreto L., Santos M.A., Sgouras D.N., Carneiro F., Leite M., Figueiredo C.
Helicobacter pylori activates matrix metalloproteinase 10 in gastric epithelial cells via EGFR and ERK-mediated pathways. Journal of Infectious Diseases213(11):1767-1776, 2016. [Journal: Article] [CI: 46] [IF: 6,3]
DOI: 10.1093/infdis/jiw031 SCOPUS: 84978646526
Pinto-Ribeiro I., Ferreira R.M., Batalha S., Hlaing T., Wong S.I., Carneiro F., Figueiredo C.
Helicobacter pylori vacA genotypes in chronic gastritis and gastric carcinoma patients from Macau, China. Toxins8(5):, 2016. [Journal: Article] [CI: 18] [IF: 3]
DOI: 10.3390/toxins8050142 SCOPUS: 84965130875
Ferreira R.M., Machado J.C., Letley D., Atherton J.C., Pardo M.L., Gonzalez C.A., Carneiro F., Figueiredo C.
A novel method for genotyping the Helicobacter pylori vacA intermediate region directly in gastric biopsy specimens. Journal of Clinical Microbiology50(12):3983-3989, 2012. [Journal: Article] [CI: 43] [IF: 4,1]
DOI: 10.1128/JCM.02087-12 SCOPUS: 84869213164
Ferreira R.M., Machado J.C., Figueiredo C.
Clinical relevance of Helicobacter pylori vacA and cagA genotypes in gastric carcinoma. Best Practice and Research: Clinical Gastroenterology28(6):1003-1015, 2014. [Journal: Review] [CI: 56] [IF: 3,5]
DOI: 10.1016/j.bpg.2014.09.004 SCOPUS: 84925226060